Friday, January 02, 2009

A caminho dos Oscáres: Parte 1

"Why is a film that's seemingly so respected by fans and critics fighting for a little metallic recognition? Two factors are working against it: its own success and politics.

Genre-based box office smashes don't fare well come award time. Most of the time, audience-friendly blockbusters can't carry the aesthetic water needed to earn them. There are exceptions, including The Silence of the Lambs, Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, that burn through ticket receipts and steal away with statuettes. But the likes of Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws will be remembered as masterpieces that Oscar ignored.

Dark Knight seems to have the critical buzz needed for an award-worthy pedigree. That leaves Hollywood's politics as the film's archenemy come nomination time. Somehow -- while it's very unlikely Nolan or co-writer David Goyer intended such an effect -- Dark Knight garnered a reputation as a conservative movie.
The theory goes that the film's message ("Some men just want to watch the world burn") is not touchy-feely Hollywood-friendly. Those politicos who seized on Batman's cape said the movie's success proved that Americans support the war on terror -- an idea that doesn't sit well with industry types who tend to (brace yourself) lean to the left and will never support anything remotely close to a neoconservative concept (perhaps with good reason).
Finally, Batman himself has been compared to President George W. Bush -- the unpopular enforcer protecting an angry public from a monstrous foe.

All of this was heaped on Dark Knight long after it was conceived, written, directed, edited and released. It was never intended as a political film but as a crime-based, psychological morality play. With high-quality, yet more Hollywood-friendly political films like Milk out there, Dark Knight may have to settle for being the biggest smash hit of all time.
Poor Warner Bros.
Images courtesy Warner Bros."